Atelier V&A, founded by Singaporean designer Venetia Gu and Australian-Dutch creative Aisha Hillary-Morgan, is more than a design studio. From their atelier, the duo shapes a new narrative for Singaporean craftsmanship, one where furniture, art, and storytelling converge in pieces made to be both lived with and felt.
Text by: Young Lim
When Venetia Gu and Aisha Hillary-Morgan first met, the connection was instant. “It was like two halves of the same idea finding each other,” Aisha recalls. “Venetia articulated the craft; I the story. It felt intuitive, structured, playful — and we laughed, a lot.”
Within weeks, their shared language evolved into a creative partnership called Atelier V&A — a sculptural design house where craftsmanship and feeling take equal precedence. Opening its inaugural space in Kaki Bukit this September, Atelier V&A functions as both working studio and living gallery, a sanctuary for creativity rooted in Asian craft and guided by emotion.
The Rhythm of Craft
For Venetia, design begins with discipline. Raised in a family that founded Interics Decor, one of Singapore’s oldest interior and construction firms, she learned early that mastery is built on patience. “Growing up surrounded by the rhythm of a carpentry studio taught me patience before precision,” she says. “Craftsmanship is not about speed but about respect — for the maker, the process, and the material. Longevity comes from intention; every detail must have a reason to exist.”
That devotion to detail defines her side of Atelier V&A. Her background in Peridot Interiors, a studio she ran in Australia, refined her sense of proportion and practicality. “It was where I learned to translate craftsmanship into contemporary living,” she explains. “I began bridging two design languages — Eastern restraint and Western fluidity.”
Now, inside Atelier V&A’s three-storey atelier above their Kaki Bukit showroom, Venetia and her craftsmen handcraft each Atelier One piece. “Each day involves hands-on conversations with our makers,” she shares. “We study proportions, joints, and finishes together until everything feels effortless. That exchange keeps the soul of Asian craft alive in modern form.”
Her philosophy of “functional furniture as art” underscores their practice. “A console or a chair should feel composed enough to live as sculpture, but approachable enough to be used,” she says. “When functionality and poetry share the same frame, design becomes timeless.”
The Emotion of Form
Where Venetia listens to material, Aisha listens to mood. “The common thread through all my work, from performance and film to interiors, has always been storytelling,” she reflects. “Design is about connection and creating memorable moments that bring joy.”
Having lived and worked across Sydney, London, and Singapore, Aisha brings an emotional fluency shaped by cultural crosscurrents. “In London, I learned to layer history with experimentation. The Netherlands gives me structure and clarity, Italy passion and play. In Singapore, tradition and modernity meet — inspiring me to bring Southeast Asian craft into Western visibility.”
Her creative process begins with feeling. “I start with function, then look for emotion — how can we make it sculptural, unexpected, sensory?” she says. “I think about mood, how light falls, how texture breathes, how scent lingers.” Honeysuckle, she adds, reminds her of walking her childhood dog. “Every object begins with a feeling that finds form and triggers joy.”
Harmony in Contrast
The pair’s differences are their greatest strength. “Venetia designs through her hands; I design through words and senses,” Aisha says. “She’s craft and precision, I’m purpose and emotion. Our difference creates depth.”
Venetia agrees. “The challenge is restraint,” she says. “Traditional carpentry values precision, while contemporary design seeks expression. The joy is when both meet, when the craft supports creativity rather than constrains it. That intersection is where Atelier V&A lives.”
Their Atelier One collection reflects this balance. The Prologue Console — its pie-shaped legs inspired by Peranakan tiles — epitomises their shared sensibility. “It captures everything we believe in: balance, structure, and the connection between past and present,” Venetia says. “The console was designed as a beginning, a piece that starts a story.”
For Aisha, their Intermission Mirror expresses the same philosophy. “It balances sculpture and story,” she says. “Our pieces bring people together through form and feeling — structure with soul.”
A Living Gallery
Their Kaki Bukit space embodies their creative ethos. “It’s a living gallery, a sanctuary, a creative playground,” Aisha says. “It reflects Singapore’s spirit — disciplined yet daring. It’s also our working atelier, where ideas come to life in the hands of our artisans.”
The atelier doubles as a platform for the city’s makers and dreamers. Venetia elaborates: “The showroom is a working studio where makers can test ideas, collaborate and exhibit. Nurturing community is not about events but about relationships built over time. We’re constantly creating with and learning from others.”
Collaborations with local artists Beeyarnd, Daisy Toh, and Lavavella reflect their mission to reinterpret heritage. “We preserve skill, reinterpret technique and hopefully revolutionise perception,” Venetia says. “Traditional craft can evolve through dialogue rather than nostalgia.”
Designing with Purpose
Aisha’s notion of “beauty with purpose” comes alive in Gather in Light — 60 Lights, One Future, a project created under the Sustainable Markets Initiative to support the Singapore Red Cross. “We designed sixty rechargeable marble lamps, each a symbol of light and hope,” she explains. “It celebrates creativity, connection and community through the power of giving.”
Her earlier ventures under Hills & West reveal the same ethos. “Purpose remains the foundation,” she says. “Each piece carries story, purpose and livelihood — a wearable expression of connection and creativity.”
For Aisha, success is measured not in scale but in meaning. “Success is when design inspires emotion — when someone pauses and smiles,” she says. “It’s making people happy one at a time and leaving the world a little better, however small the gesture.”
The Future of Craft
Venetia hopes Atelier V&A will become “a recognised home for craftsmanship in Asia, a place where emerging designers collaborate with master artisans creating work that speaks globally but feels rooted here.”
Aisha’s vision complements it. “We want to champion Singapore’s craftsmanship, inspire locally and share globally,” she says. “We’re building a family of sculptural design lovers who believe beauty and craft connect us all.”
Ultimately, both founders see design as a form of communication — an enduring conversation between hand, heart and material. “Timelessness is emotional endurance,” Venetia says. “A piece lasts because it continues to mean something.”
And that may be Atelier V&A’s most resonant legacy: to remind us that in an age of mass production and fleeting trends, true craftsmanship, and true beauty, still come from the heart.
